View on GitHub

AER506

Spacecraft Dynamics and Control

AER506 | Spacecraft Dynamics and Control

Fall 2019 - University of Toronto

Prepared by: Behrad Vatankhahghadim

Contact: Behrad [dot] Vatankhahghadim [at] mail.UToronto.ca

Course Syllabus

Prologue

These course notes are developed for the students of Spacecraft Dynamics and Control (AER506) based on the following resources:

These notes are meant as a supplement and not a substitute for the lectures. They do not include examples or tutorial problems discussed in class, nor do they elaborate on the concepts as much as the lectures are intended to do. They also make occasional references to the course’s required and recommended textbooks (the third and fourth items in the list above, respectively), and hence are not self-contained. It is hoped, nevertheless, that the students will find them useful for preparing for each lecture beforehand, for facilitating their in-class note-taking, and for reviewing the key concepts as the course progresses.

1 - Fundamentals

Vectrix Notation, Reference Frames, Rotation Matrices and Change of Frames, Attitude Representations

Lecture Notes

2 - Kinematics

Geometry of Motion, Definition and Properties of Angular Velocity, Vector Derivatives in Rotating Frames, Relating Angular Velocity to Attitude

Lecture Notes

3 - Dynamics

Science of Motion; Force/Momentum and Torque/Angular Momentum for Point Masses, Systems of Masses, and Rigid Bodies; Moment of Inertia Matrix and Its Properties

Lecture Notes

4 - Orbital Mechanics

Two-Body Problem, Constants of Orbital Motion, Kepler’s Laws and Newton’s Law of Gravitation, Polar Equation and Conic Sections, Anomalies

Lecture Notes

5 - Orbit Description and Determination

Position and Velocity from Classical Orbital Elements and Time, Orbital Elements from Position and Velocity, Lambert’s Problem of Orbit Determination, Porkchop Plots

Lecture Notes

6 - Orbital Perturbations

Effects of Perturbations on Orbital Parameters, Numerical Approaches, Gauss’ Variational Equations Parameters’ Rate of Change, J2 Perturbations

Lecture Notes

7 - Launch Vehicle Dynamics

Simplified Study of Forces on and Motion of Launch Vehicles, Focusing on Vertical Ascent, Turn-Over, and Gravity Turn Trajectories

Lecture Notes

8 - Orbital Manoeuvres

General Manoeuvres; Radial Thrust; Tangential Thrust, Hohmann Transfer, and Rendezvous; Normal Thrust

Lecture Notes

9 - Interplanetary Travel

Sphere of Influence, Hyperbolic Departure and Arrival Hyperbolae, Interplanetary Hohmann Transfer, Planetary Fly-By

Lecture Notes

10 - Restricted Three-Body Problem

Equations of Circular Restricted Three-Body Motion, Lagrange Points and Their Stability, Jacobi Integral and Hill Curves

Lecture Notes

11 - Stability

Linear Stability and Linear Mechanical Systems, Input/Output Stability, Lyapunov Stability, Lyapunov’s First Method

Lecture Notes

12 - Torque-Free Motion

Constants of Torque-Free Motion, Angular Velocity and Attitude History of an Inertially Axisymmetrical Body, Geometrical Interpretation of Torque-Free Rotation

Lecture Notes

13 - Spin Stabilization

Linear Stability of Simple Spins, Energy and Momentum Ellipsoids, Internal Energy Dissipation and Major Axis Rule

Lecture Notes

14 - Dual-Spin Stabilization

Dual-Spin Equations and Constants of Motion, Stability Conditions for Gyrostats with Nominally Non-Spinning Platforms and Principally-Aligned Wheels

Lecture Notes

15 - Energy Dissipation in Dual-Spins

Constrained Minimization Approach to Energy Dissipation, Stability Conditions in Presence of Dissipation for Gyrostats with Nominally Non-Spinning Platforms and Principally-Aligned Wheels

Lecture Notes

16 - Disturbance Torques

External Torques Affecting Attitude Motion: Magnetic, Aerodynamic, Solar Radiation Pressure and Gravity Gradient Torques

Lecture Notes

17 - Gravity Gradient Stabilization

Equations of Rotational Motion under Influence of Gravity Gradient, Pitch and Roll/Yaw Stability Conditions, Effects of Damping on Attitude Stability

Lecture Notes

18 - Active Attitude Control

Basics of Control Theory: Laplace Transform, Transfer Functions, System Interconnecions; Simple Feedback Attitude Controllers, Transient and Steady-State Performance in Reponse to Step Input

Lecture Notes

19 - Bias-Momentum Stabilization

Equations of Motion for Actively-Controlled Dual-Spin Spacecraft subject to Gravity Gradient Torques, Active Pitch Control and Roll/Yaw Control, Steady-State Performance

Lecture Notes

20 - Nonlinear Attitude Control (Not Covered - From 2018)

A Brief Introduction to Nonlinear Attitude Control, Nonlinear Equations of Rotational Motion, Stability of Rate Feedback

Lecture Notes